Welcome to America, 2012
"It's impossible to escape advertising. Truck ads on billboards, beer ads on television, pop-up ads for credit cards on the Internet. It's everywhere. Last year, U.S. companies spent about $144 billion on commercials and other forms of marketing—about 1 percent of the GDP. So what effect do all these ads have on the economy?
"Economists have been debating this topic for a century now, and a couple of broad camps have formed. Many argue that ads are ultimately beneficial, giving people more information about products and boosting competition. Others suggest that ads are essentially a psychological ploy, persuading people to buy things they wouldn't otherwise want or need. And a few economists, notably Arthur Pigou, have argued that there's too much advertising in the world, with rival companies merely bludgeoning each other to a standstill."
"Economists have been debating this topic for a century now, and a couple of broad camps have formed. Many argue that ads are ultimately beneficial, giving people more information about products and boosting competition. Others suggest that ads are essentially a psychological ploy, persuading people to buy things they wouldn't otherwise want or need. And a few economists, notably Arthur Pigou, have argued that there's too much advertising in the world, with rival companies merely bludgeoning each other to a standstill."